Will a Strike Push Up Driver's Wages?

If there's a nationwide strike, would that mean the drivers that aren't striking get paid more?

In the law of supply and demand, the greater the demand means higher prices.

In the labor market, the greater the demand for truckers means higher wages for truckers if there aren't enough truckers (because many are on strike).

I'd have to know more about a strike before I'd participate.

 

A strike against whom ??

 

As for wages going up? We will only see wages rise if we mange to cut supply. Demand, that to get a license drivers will no longer be allowed to be trained by the company which will ultimately charge them upwards of $7000 and employ them afterward. We must demand harsher restrictions on getting a license.


Who do we strike against? We strike against "The machine".

The same machine that companies and lobbyists pander to everyday to get what they want. The same machine that says "you don't get overtime after 40hrs" and "you aren't entitled to be paid for time lost when the truck isn't moving,you will subsidise the industry you work in".

We strike against the apathy that people have become so comfortable with.

Truckers are the last great labour force in America that cannot be outsourced.
A strike by drivers could be just the catalyst that America needs to pull itself out of the tailspin that it's in. If one group of people see another group fighting for what is not only fair but what is right,then maybe others will take notice and join a cause that inspires them.

 

It would insure more Mexican trucks hauling freight for less.

 

I gotta agree they'd pick up and let Mr.El Presidente have it his way. Trucking is just kinda ruined , no one will stop and give you a hand big companys shut little guys like me down. I mean Id love it if they busted the everyday motorist balls like they do ours got a light out , alright thats a fine. Hit some one , alright you lose your job.

 

If Mexican trucks were allowed up here (as they should already have been allowed access under NAFTA) the rates would already have been affected.

Safety leagues and trucking companies have done an excellent job of painting Mexican trucks as "unsafe" and not "road worthy" in America. NO Mexican truck can enter the States without being inspected at a point of entry. All the trucks recieve a level one inspection,pretty much every truck is found to have a minor defect,the rate at which trucks pass CVSA inspections and get stickers is pretty much at zero.

If we make getting a license harder,we can use that to say "Mexican drivers don't have the same level of training that is required to drive on our roads." The public always wants to feel they are safe and protcted,we can give them that.

American drivers going on strike won't change this perception of the Mexicans.
Over time though we will see a softening of the perception that people hold of the Mexican trucks,don't forget that Mexican trucking companies lobby their government heavily for access to the states under NAFTA.

 

Exactly. Like the old days when a road test required lots of testing to pass. You had to be able to actually skillfully drive the truck. Shift it even.

Once again, it's a post that had me just about clapping.

I remember when the Canadians stuck many years ago, they all shut down. Unity. Loyalty. Maybe it was a bunch of men who just got tired of repeatedly getting it shoved past their sphincter and had enough.

No other labor force in this country has the clout and capability to bring this country to a screeching halt in a matter of three days.

It's too bad we just didn't have the balls. Or the unity.

As far as I see it from my little corner of the world, the independents and the smaller operators are in support of it first.

But get a company driver to strike... yeah right. When your benefits are on the line, that nice steady paycheck, your little security blanket that you can hold whilst you suck your thumb... it's not going to happen.

A majority of those folks don't even peruse a forum like this. They're comfortable in their nice safe little bubble, oblivious and just glad they have a job while they watch some homeless sap panhandle.

The "machine" has been so good at striking fear in our hearts that we feel unempowered to do anything about it.

"Oh, you're averaging $9 an hour? Well, be glad you have a job. Look at the unemployment rate!"

So, you sit all weekend, unpaid, because some $12 an hour warehouseman didn't like the look on your face, and decided not to recieve you after you drove all night, slapping yourself in the face to get there on time. Fed you some BS about not having an appointment until Monday.

A noble notion. The only problem that we have is that the machine is organized, and we as a "group" are not.

The only way a strike would work is that if each and every driver who possessed a commercial drivers license parked no matter what the consequences. If you could achieve that unity, no one's job would be on the line, because frankly, who would replace you?

Imagine that. No lines to cross. The word "scab" could be saved for a hospital. Let the wound bleed.

I do have "ex" sitting in front of my 31 years of driving. I'll always be a trucker at heart, and if I was still driving, would strike to support the cause. Ya, the fight against apathy. That almost seems like an oxymoron.

It's what this country has become. A slave to the machine.

No one could lead the revolution more than the people who supply it's needs. It's too bad many of you forgot just how much you matter.

All of you.

 

That's just a dream. Too many just care about themselves anymore. They know nothing of unity or desire. Strike? I have a car payment due next week. Screw you! That's the attitude you would get.

Besides, who wants to fill Hoffa's shoes? You might disappear.

Our only hope is for the FMSCA to chase the undesireables out of the industry. Then with a smaller driver pool, companies will fight for the better driver and offer a better pay package.

 

One big problem is that 'the machine' has many of you by the short and curlies. All in the name of "debt". Thousands in credit card debt, mortgage you cannot really afford, car loans. Too many people living beyond their means. Very few seem to understand that cash is king, not credit. Live within your means not trying to keep up with the Jones'.

 

Earn big - live cheap ...

And not to mention the hostility toward those who don't need to work as hard - or need as much to be happy.